Detonations of the Mind
by StarletOfTheForest
Summary: With Raven's powers on the fritz and a vampress working for Slade, the Titans are facing some of their greatest challenges yet. Will they manage to stay together, or will a simple word, love, rip them apart at the seams? RobStar BBRae CyOC
1. Chapter 1: Miss Drama Queen

"For the LAST TIME, Beast Boy, I will NOT play GameStation with you, nor will I waste my time on television!" exclaimed Raven in a near-shout. The blue Titan's patience was receiving a severe pushing of buttons by the green that was Garfield Logan and she wasn't enjoying it… Or was she?

_'Don't you DARE think about that, Raven!' _she scolded herself_. 'You can't feel or your powers go haywire, remember? And letting what's possibly the most powerful emotion ever to exist into your mind is extraordinarily dange-- oh . . .'_ She thought a word most inappropriate for young childrens' ears as the lighting above the pair exploded. "STOP IT!" she shrieked at herself and, by accident, aloud. She thought the curse word again. _'NOW he's going to start prying around where he's concerned in my thoughts! And don't kid yourself, Raven, you're DEFINITELY in love with him.'_ She willed herself not to look into his eyes; she held a soft spot there.

"Stop what, Rae?" Beast Boy asked, making his car on the GameStation veer dangerously to the left. "I know. You love me. Every girl in America does. What turned you on, the hair? The ladies love the hair." Raven reddened, thankful that her hood helped to hide her flaming cheeks. It didn't exactly help her that her skin was pale, either.

Starfire floated into her room, soaked in sweat and her long, ruby-red hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Her eyes were tinted a strange pink, a closer look at the girl and Beast Boy realized she had hearts in them. As she sat down to watch him play the game, he paused it and tugged on her hair. "Ooh, Starfire's got a crush, ooh!" She, like Raven, went very scarlet. "I do not! I was merely expressing my pleasure after doing the training with Robin."

"So you like him?"

"I beg to differ!"

Raven blushed violently and distracted herself by turning to Beast Boy's and Starfire's argument. "Oh, come ON, Starfire; isn't it just plain painfully obvious! And not just to me, either," she added, flashing a look at Beast Boy before turning back to the Tamaranean. "You're totally in love with Robin!"

Starfire flushed deeply, and at a bad time, too; Robin chose that moment to enter the living room and collapse on the couch. "I've been working on an analysis of those weird attacks on local fruit stands-- I just don't get why the HIVE team keeps on trying to steal bananas, of all things. Of course, they probably have gone bananas themselves, but why do they need to prove that in a more literal manner?" He glanced to his left as Starfire gave a giggle from there. He felt sudden warmth all around him from her laughter, and tried his hardest not to blush (having noticed her gradually fading one at once). "Hey, Star!"

"Hello, Robin!" she exclaimed brightly. Raven and Beast Boy exchanged knowing looks, their most recent argument forgotten_. 'I am not, friend Raven,'_ Starfire thought fiercely in her mind, knowing Raven would be lurking around in there.

_'Yes, you are!'_

_'I do not feel any affection beyond ship friend for Robin. Perhaps I should question how you feel of Beast Boy?'_

Raven immediately shut up, still trying to convince herself that she didn't love him. Beast Boy looked questionably at Robin. "Why would they steal bananas? Did one of those freaks turn into a gorilla?" He began to crack up, holding onto the couch for support. His video game was long finished, but he was still sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Robin stifled a chuckle. "Well, we'll find out soon enough, all right," he said, yawning slightly. "I'm thinking that it could be an ingredient to some kind of virus... but that's a pure guess, and what kind of virus would require bananas?"

Meanwhile, Raven lurched out of Starfire's mind in a split second. _'DO I love Beast Boy?'_ she asked herself for the millionth time today. _'I mean, he is annoying, and his idea of a joke drives me nuts... but it's kind of cute. And anyways, he does always have good intentions, so who am I to blame him?'_ She shook her head slightly and turned back to the mainstream. "In any case, I think we should investigate it," she stated simply. "Cyborg would usually know this kind of thing, but he's on his honeymoon and we shouldn't disturb him..."

Beast Boy frowned. "With that Stephanie, right? Bit of a shame she fell for Cyborg, of all people. Drop-dead gorgeous and has a great sense of humor... but then, Steph's not the only one around here that's desirable." Raven tugged her hood just a bit further up: she was pretty sure that Beast Boy had just winked in her direction.

"Didn't you even pay attention to who he was getting married to, Beast Boy? Of course it was Stephanie; he's been dating her for ages!"

Starfire scowled in Beast Boy's direction. "Friend Stephanie is a very pleasant person, you are merely resentful of her because she was victorious in the game videos." He opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by a death glare from Robin. 'Very overprotective of our princess, aren't we Robin?' Raven taunted knowingly in his mind. 'Get out, Raven,' he growled. A bit taken-aback, the Azarathian obeyed.

"So, Robin," Beast Boy asked casually, leaning back on the couch, "Got a girlfriend? The lovely Starfire, perhaps?"

Robin bit his lip and looked practically horrified. "She's not my girlfriend! And anyways, like you don't have one! You're practically drooling over Raven!"

Raven's face went red for the third time today. What was it with her today, anyways? It wasn't as though she and Beast Boy had ever been extremely close... but ever since that day when he and Cyborg had entered her mind through the mirror, he had begun to grow on her, and she found it harder and harder to keep herself for laughing at his losses on the GameStation against Cyborg and vain attempts to get the others to eat tofu.

_'Control your emotions, control your emotions, CONTROL your EMOTIONS!'_ she shrieked at herself; she could sense that the GameStation would explode any second now if she didn't, and allowing that to happen would be exactly like committing suicide after Cyborg and Beast Boy realized it was her fault. Breathing in and out slowly and with effort, she managed to stop herself from causing the device any damage... but not before she accidentally shook her hood out of her face to reveal her completely scarlet complexion.

Robin stifled a snicker. "Something-- er-- embarrass you, Raven?" he said with heavy emphasis. No one could help but notice Beast Boy's hopeful face.

She fumed silently. "No, not at all," she snapped at him. "Just having a bit of trouble controlling my powers today, that's all." She made her way back into his mind and snapped, _'Now will you SHUT IT! I'm under quite enough stress as it is!'_

He looked quite taken aback at her sudden annoyance, and blinked as Raven stood suddenly. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'll be in my room," she said heavily, storming out and down the hall.

Robin frowned. "What was that all about?" he managed. He and Starfire shared a confused look.

"What's up with her?" Beast Boy asked, pulling a comical face. "She's so dramatic. Drama, drama, drama. Drama this, drama that." _'And I totally love her for it,' _he added mentally.

"I am worried for Friend Raven. Perhaps we should visit her?"

"Starfire, you know she hates people in her room. Leave her alone." Robin switched on the television.

_'What on Azarath is going on!'_ Raven exclaimed inwardly. _'I'm exploding all over the place, can't control my emotions, and it's affecting my abilities to concentrate and meditate!'_ Indeed, she and tried in vain for the past ten minutes to calm herself and failed dismally. This caused quite a bit frustration on her part; her bookshelf exploded as she burst out, aggravated.

A soft knock at her door informed her that someone clearly hadn't followed Robin's directions. "What do you want?" she snapped, even angrier that she couldn't repair the damage done with witchcraft, which promptly caused her clothes armoire to blow up and shatter into a billion shards of wood.

She focused hard. _'When did this start happening! It's crazy... my actions are totally controlled by emotions, not my will, now!'_ Closing her eyes to concentrate, things stopped blowing up as she remembered...

_"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" shrieked Raven, shooting pure energy at Jinx with all her might. It was a dull, dark, and humid evening; the air felt so moist and stuffy that it was as though Raven was suffocating within it. Her opponent gasped as it hit her right in the face, staggering forward after wincing from the boils springing up on her pale skin, she whipped out something-- was it a needle? A syringe? -- and thrust it into Raven's arm. _

_Her mouth fell open as she suddenly felt a sudden burst within her; "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" she repeated, but the magic did not come. Feeling a sudden explosion of rage, the block of cement upon which Jinx was standing suddenly self-destructed; the pink-hairedwitch, caught off guard, received a full blast of cement to the stomach and collapsed. _

_Satisfaction ringing from head to toes, Raven bellowed to the others, "Take down Gizmo and Mammoth; my powers aren't working and I'm going home!" And with that, she turned and fled._

The door slid open, revealing a worried Starfire. The alien gazed at Raven with large, concerned green eyes, and she stepped into the room, looking warily at the armoire and bookcase. "Are there any unsatisfactory feelings of which I would be able to assist in banishing?" she inquired, perching awkwardly on Raven's bed and waiting for her fellow female Titan to scream at her to leave.

But the scream never came. Feeling a sudden rush of compassion towards the Tamaranean, Raven smiled (a candle on the desk shook violently before spraying hot wax all over Raven's books, although this was unnoticed by them both for now) and said, "Thanks, Starfire... I'm just... really confused right now. I mean, my powers have been malfunctioning ever since Jinx put that thing in my arm, and I can't control what I say and do-- it's as though I'm acting on emotions, not what I do or don't want to do. It's-- I'm s-scared." Raven sighed and took a seat next to Starfire on the feather-light bed.

"As for unsatisfactory feelings that need banishing... the fear could use getting rid of. And there's a lot of it because-- get this strange epidemic-- I think I'm in lo-- AARGH! I did NOT just say that!" The entire desk shattered at this proclamation, it and its contents falling in a heap to the rubble-coated ground.

"And look at this mess! I can't use my spells, so how'm I supposed to repair anything! Okay, if my bed goes, am I going to get stuck in Terra's old room? I don't want ANY reminder of her-- it'll drive me nuts and I'll probably explode the whole place out of annoyance, too." But thinking about Terra was one emotional weakness too many; with Raven's cry of anguish and irk, the entire room crashed and burned-- well, smoked, to be literally accurate-- before their eyes, and they were suddenly sitting on the layers of trash upon the floor.

Beast Boy and Robin, engrossed in a mindless television program, heard the sounds of the smoking room and the cries of surprise from both Raven and Starfire.

"What the f--" Beast Boy started.

"Language," said Robin dully. "You know Star won't put up with it."

"I was going to say 'flip,' but I'll just skip the sentence, then," said Beast Boy with a grin. "And since when are you all obsessed with Starfire? Or called her Star, for that matter?"

Robin rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Come on, we'd better go check out what the girls have done..." They turned towards Raven's smoldering door, Beast Boy anxiously yet curiously, Robin trudging reluctantly as if to say, 'Well, the worst has finally come-- what now?'

Starfire heard a sharp rapping on the door before it was opened without further ado. "Rav-- what? What happened to your room?" said Beast Boy incredulously, looking from Raven to Starfire and back again. _'She wasn't going into emotional overdrive, was she? That's one change I'll never adapt to,'_ he thought with a shudder, but almost instantly added, _'But she IS cute when she's not wearing a blank expression. 'Specially right now,' _he daydreamed, his eyes lingering on her for a second too long. Unluckily for him, she seemed to notice and a presence revealed itself in his mind: _'I heard that.'_

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Didn't know you could still..."

Robin blinked. "Read thoughts? Yeah, she sort of unsettled me earlier today with that trick. Raven... Starfire... what happened in here?"

Raven rolled her eyes, regaining her usual deadpan once more. "I blew the lot up. Happy?" She fiddled with the remains of one of her spellbooks, looking slightly bored, though there was a hint of something else in her eyes-- what it was, Beast Boy couldn't figure out. But they had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Where will friend Raven be staying, now that she can no longer reside in her room of beds?" asked Starfire quietly, breaking the tense silence.

Robin opened his mouth to reply, but Raven cut him off with an impatient air about her. "I'll stay in Cyborg's room till he gets back, if that's okay. Or we can just drag a cot in here. Personally..." She flashed a dark look at them all as she finished, "I'd like very much to be _alone_."

Robin's jaw closed and he nodded briefly. "We'll bring in Te-- uh, the spare bed for you to use. Cyborg wouldn't be too happy if he came home to find his room in ruins. Will you-- um-- be able to... wreck anything not in the room?" he asked uneasily, failing to find a way to avoid the more unwelcome content of the brief, few sentences.

Raven felt rather stung; did the Titans not trust her? _'Distrust me? No way. We don't know if I can manage to trash stuff outside of the room or not. That's all. Just a formality-_

A slight eruption from the hall cut off her thoughts. She smiled grimly. "Guess so."


	2. Chapter 2: Bedtimes and Bloopers

"I'm gonna beat ya, ya snot-for-brains!" Gizmo yelled, his eyes staring intently at the blaring television screen, a controller in his hand.

"Yeah?" Mammoth retorted.

"Zip it!"

"You zip it!" yelled Jinx, concentrating on a clear-colored potion which was emitting spirals of steam. "This is going to take down the Titans for good!"

"Can it, ya pink-haired twit!" Gizmo yelled again, throwing his controller at her. She ducked, and in hit her ingredient bottles, which switched on the fan and knocked in a few substances, turning the potion a shimmering cerulean. She gasped, and rounded on him. "Look what you- hold on!" Jinx read the page. "That's the right color. I am such a genius." Gizmo glared at her.

She didn't notice the fact that the fan had flipped the pages back.

"Bow-wow-wow-wow, HONK your HORN, HONK your HORN!"

"Beast Boy, WILL YOU QUIT SINGING!" There was a small explosion as a lamp blew up.

"Whoops, sorry to burst your bubble, Rae, but James Taylor actually came out with a happy song! I NEED TO CELEBRATE!"

"For your information, that one's been released for several years, and DON'T CALL ME RAE!"

"Why not, _Rae_?"

Raven fumed silently. '_I am going to kill Robin for making my room next to that idiot's,'_ she thought angrily; but even though she was mad as all get-out on the surface, what was that bubble of emotion beneath it? Love...?

'_SHUT UP!_' she commanded herself_. 'It's one in the morning and the Titans are going to KILL YOU if you wake any of them up.' _Sighing, she snapped with forced patience, "If you're going to do any singing, do you mind not waking up SOME of us in the process!"

"I definitely mind, RAE," came the smart response. "You need to celebrate with me here!"

The wall separating their bedrooms burst into sudden flames, which quickly vanished to leave a red-hot Raven and a stuttering Beast Boy.

"I-I... y-- w-what HAPPENED to the WALL!" demanded Beast Boy.

"I kind of broke it down, if you haven't noticed, because of YOUR annoyance!" snapped the empath. "So I guess we're stuck rooming. You stick to your side, I stick to mine. Got it? Good."

Beast Boy grimaced. They were in for a looooong night, it looked like. "Wait a second-- how am I supposed to get DRESSED!" he burst out savagely. "And if you ruin ANY of my stuff--"

"It'll be your own fault, and the closet's perfectly roomy," said Raven sarcastically, calming down at long last (and at a rapid pace at that).

"THE CLOSET! I can't change in the CLOSET!" Beast Boy exclaimed, glaring at Raven.

"Why not? Afraid it'll mess up your reputation or something?"

"No! I don't have a closet!" Beast Boy wiggled his hands around and Raven looked, realizing he was right for once. There wasn't a closet, but clothes were messily strewn about on the floor.

"Then change in mine!" she replied, her voice high and panicky.

"If you didn't notice, Einstein, you blew yours up."

There was an embarrassed, awkward pause before Raven sighed. "Never mind that at the moment. I am SO not sleeping on the floor anymore," she said, laughing wildly and dashing into Beast Boy's bed, pulling the covers up over her head.

His eyes widened. Had Raven-- the very same emotionless, monotonous Raven of just two days ago-- GRINNED at him? Never mind smiling, she was LAUGHING! _'Time to call the press,'_ he thought rigidly, attempting not to gasp.

Beast Boy regained control over his senses after a few moments; "No way am I replacing your floorness!" he exclaimed, hurtling himself on top of the monkey-patterned comforter and scrambling to break her grip on them and joining in the giggling.

Five minutes later, a disheveled and groggy Robin poked his head into Beast Boy's room to yell at him for causing such a racket and felt his jaw drop to the floor when he realized that the two culprits were now fast asleep. In the same bed.

"Yo, man, why you so-" Cyborg glanced inside the room and nearly had a heart attack. "What the heck did they DO together?"

"At least they still have their clothes on," Robin muttered darkly. The sounds of a stove being turned on wafted in from the kitchen and Robin realized they'd let Starfire cook breakfast. _'Great,'_ he thought. _'If Raven doesn't blow up the whole tower when she wakes up, Starfire'll burn it down.'_ He rushed into the kitchen- and into the arms of a certain Tamaranean princess.

"Friend Robin!" said Starfire warmly, giving him one of her infamous squeezes; they broke away quickly, however, both blushing. Robin twiddled his thumbs and stared at the floor, but Starfire regained comfort in the scenario quickly. "This is a delightful morning, is it not?" Robin smiled softly and had already raised an arm to stroke her hair before reminding himself for the millionth time that they were just friends and scratched the back of his neck instead, still looking downward. Glancing up at long last, he nodded and spoke. His voice, thankfully, was still normal. "Yes, it definitely is. And guess who turned up from his honeymoon in the night?" Cyborg turned up just then, beaming from ear to ear.

"Mornin', Starfire," he said, practically as though on cue. "What's for breakfast? It'll have to be quick, I'm meeting Stephanie at her old place today... she's moving in today. Bit earlier than planned, but we got sick of the cruise and showed up here early." Cyborg flashed another grin and practically fell into one of the chairs. "Pancakes!" she replied enthusiastically, flipping one over to demonstrate. "I am trying a glorious new recipe for them that Beast Boy was showing to me! Do not worry, Cyborg," she added as the half-robot opened his mouth to protest, "they are tofu-free."

Cyborg closed his mouth as Robin said, "Speaking of Beast Boy, we should go wake him and Raven up soon, seeing that Raven's slept in way past her mental alarm clock allows her to due to... the given circumstances..." He and Cyborg shared a smirk. "What are the circumstances in question, Robin?" asked Starfire blankly. "Go and see for yourself, I'll handle the 'cakes," said Cyborg in reply as a shrill scream sounded from the hall.

Raven stirred and buried herself deeper into the warmth of the bed. What time was it? Six? Seven? She must have overslept at least an hour, her mind was sure of it... opening her eyes slowly, she gasped and shrieked as she realized where she was... in the bed and arms of one certain Beast Boy. "No. Way." she muttered, but did not throw herself out of bed just yet; as the memory of last night came flooding back to her, she cracked an evil smile of triumph and sank a bit deeper into the feather mattress, though dislodging herself from Beast Boy reluctantly. What was that foreign emotion that was rising faster and faster through the layers of her heart that made her feel so whole and content? ...Love...?

"Aww, not fair! I was hoping you'd hold out for another five minutes!" came a hauntingly familiar whisper in her ear. Raven was standing behind the debris of the wall in a matter of milliseconds. "You... don't... I'm an idiot... BEAST BOY!" she bellowed, zooming out of the vicinity without further ado.

Beast Boy frowned slightly, but did not go after her. What was that all about, anyways? Beast Boy had taken advantage of the opportunity to engage himself in a friendly fight over the bed, Raven falling asleep after ten minutes or so; Beast Boy had warned her he wouldn't give up, hadn't he?

_'Hark who's talking,'_ he told himself fiercely._ 'Last night only happened because of that stupid curse Jinx put on Rae. She must feel really relaxed in the morning, so she was able to act normally for a minute. It probably freaked her out. Nothing out of the ordinary there.'_

He sighed and hugged his stuffed elephant close to his chest, breathing deeply. _'That doesn't keep it from hurting, at least a little. Just don't try anything like that in the future..._' he reasoned with himself. _'Then, there won't be any confusion as a result.'_

Beast Boy groaned and rolled over onto his stomach as he heard the door open. There was NO WAY that Raven could be coming back in; probably Robin or Starfire. Indeed, the latter's voice could be heard faintly from through the thick layers of comforter. "Friend Beast Boy? I heard Raven yelling from your bedroom, but she refused to tell me what was ongoing."

"Go away," he muttered, "I'm sleeping."

"You are not sleeping!" countered Starfire. There was a painful thud.

"OW! No sitting on my feet!"

"I knew that you would surely be awake!" said the alien, tossing the sheets to the floor and smiling at Beast Boy, shivering in his pajamas. "Please do tell me what occurred."

Beast Boy summed up the events in several rushed sentences and sighed, ducking back into his bed. "NOW you go away. I want to be left alone. I'm tired!" he whined, yawning authentically enough to persuade her.

The red-haired girl agreed, and left the room slightly confused. She looked around for a Titan to ask. Cyborg had already left, Beast Boy was asleep, Raven definitely wouldn't work… _'Robin!_' she thought breathlessly, walking over to the masked Boy Wonder (who, at twenty-two, wasn't exactly a boy any longer) and sat down. "Friend Robin, I am… confused."

Robin whirled around and started, but relaxed quickly when he realized who and what had been spoken. "What with?" he asked quietly.

Starfire beamed, the smile lighting up her whole face. "Raven refused to tell me what was troubling her, but said something about Beast Boy. I asked him what was going on and he said that Raven had accidentally exploded her bed yesterday and they ended up sharing his after a 'friendly fight' over it, but they ended up sharing it and she then ran off upon awakening. Whatever was the matter, he did not state. Will you tell me?"

Robin's eyes widened. "Well, um, uh-" Starfire looked at him crossly and said, "I suppose you do not care about me enough to explain a simple matter to me." She got up and walked away, leaving a bewildered Robin.


	3. Chapter 3: Conflicts

The seconds ticked away like years in the Titans' Tower as Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven awaited Cyborg's return with Stephanie. Tension was thick in the air between the four: Starfire refused to even make eye contact with a flustered Robin, while Beast Boy sulked in his room and struggled to ignore a fuming Raven who was flopped on his bed, having destroyed most of his possessions already.

Robin checked his watch agitatedly every few minutes, waiting for the familiar rumble of the T-Car, the one thing he could trust would break the uneasy silence that hovered over the present four Titans.

Lunch was a subdued affair, Beast Boy's feeble attempts at jokes acknowledged only by Raven, whose reaction of shooting a death glare at him was far from enthusiastic. Indeed, both girls were seething by the end of the meal, and only when Beast Boy pulled Starfire aside and mumbled a rushed apology and an offer to play video games did any sense of well being arise between any of the four.

But Beast Boy's game was even worse than usual and, even after a thorough description of the controls, Starfire continually fumbled over the joysticks and buttons, a sure sign that neither was really up for it.

Eventually, Beast Boy threw up his hands in aggravation. "You know, I'm sick of trying to play while everyone's so mad around here," he said to the Tamaranean, who nodded in agreement. "It's useless, anyways. Look, I'll tell you what's up with Raven if you do the same for me about Robin. Otherwise, we're never going to come to a solution-- that is, until Cyborg gets here."

"Agreed, Friend. But I insist that you go first."

Beast Boy smirked. "Sorry, Star, but _ladies_ first." Her face contorted into a scowl, and she soon caved.

Starfire pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees, resting her head and looking at Beast Boy. "I am afraid… that Friend Robin does not like me anymore. He did not care to explain a simple matter to me." A single tear slipped from her large, bright green eyes and she turned away.

But suddenly her eyes glowed with righteous fury. "But I do not care anymore. If he does not love me, I shall love another instead." With that she leapt off the couch and out of the operations center.

"Starfire...? Starfire!" said Beast Boy cautiously, quickly following her out the room, but to no prevail. Instead, a fuming Robin that was giving him a death glare met him. Blinking, he turned to the former Boy Wonder with a slight frown.

"Hey, what'd I ever do?" he snapped irritably. "It's not my fault she just blew up in my face because of you."

"Whatever," retorted Robin, turning away. Shaking his head in disgust, Beast Boy tore off to Starfire's room and rapped on the door quickly. "Starfire, I'm giving you three seconds to let you in before I turn into a fly and get in through the crack under the door," he said seriously. "One... two..."

It opened noiselessly. "What do you want?" asked the still-angered alien, retaking her perch on the edge of her bed.

"Dude, Robin doesn't hate you," he said hesitantly, taking a few paces into the room. "Actually, I rather think he's in love with you... so don't get your hopes down just yet."

She shrugged. "It does not matter, and I am giving you three seconds to get out." He arched an eyebrow, and stood there. He'd never seen Starfire this angry, or upset, since the time Robin had been forced to attend the prom with Kitten.

"One. Two. Three."

Soon a shower of starbolts hit the former Doom Patrol member, who squealed in pain. "What the flip, Starfire?"

"Can you not respect my wishes and LEAVE ME ALONE!" exclaimed Starfire angrily, literally kicking him out of her bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her. Unexpectedly, she burst out into sobs, muffling them by burying her face into her pillow.

"Oh, what has happened to us?" she said brokenly, the tears stopping as suddenly as they had come as she found herself in a blind rage. "Friends do not treat each other this way! Although I am deeply angered at friends Beast Boy and Robin for my atrocious behavior!"

Starfire clutched her pink pillow. "The Reck-Mazz has finally come... Robin was wrong. We will not be friends forever..."

The mammoth door to the lobby opened and closed. She could hear the elevator making it's way up until it reached the operations room. "Rob? Star? Rae? BB? It's Cy!"

"And Stephanie!" an equally cheerful voice rang out.

Starfire quickly dried her eyes, hoping that her green eyes were no longer speckled with bloodshot red. Emerging from her room in quite a state, she caught a glance at herself- they still were. Annoyed that everyone would now know she had been crying, she cast her thoughts aside and fixed a fake but hopeful smile on her face. "Hello, friends! It is a pleasure to meet you once more, Stephanie!" she called, emerging into the operations center and embracing them both tightly.

A whimpering Beast Boy, bent double from the pain in his stomach after being hit by starbolts, quickly followed Starfire. "Hey... Cy... Steph..." he said heavily, giving a small wave before ducking out of sight.

"What's with him?" asked Cyborg, moderately concerned about Beast Boy's odd behavior.

Starfire groaned under her breath. "He... I do not know. But friend Beast Boy will surely be fine soon!" she said, falsely bright.

Unfortunately for the Tamaranean, her words were proved untrue as a loud squeal came from Beast Boy's room, followed by a, "I am SO not forgiving you for that, Starfire!"

Stephanie and Cyborg exchanged puzzled looks. Raven teleported in for a quick, but cold greeting. Robin turned up suddenly, causing Starfire to leave with a haughty "Hmph!"

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with the Titans?" demanded Cyborg of Robin, glaring around at the two present Titans. "Starfire's moody, Beast Boy's mad at Starfire and looks like he's having really bad cramps or something, Raven's all emotional, and YOU'RE apparently picking a fight with your best friend! Explanations, **now**."

Raven just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and you've gotten _married_. Don't tell me you think that's completely ordinary. Nice seeing you again, Stephanie." She stalked off, a door slamming in her wake moments later.

Robin shot a toxic glare at Cyborg and walked away, leaving an irked Cyborg and a very befuddled Stephanie.

"What's going on!" she inquired. Cyborg gave the blonde a swift peck on the lips. "Nothing, Steph. They're going crazy, I guess. Hormones running wild." She giggled. "Okay…"

'Crazy indeed...' she thought, hoping against hope that her secret wouldn't contribute to the chaos.

A/N: Yeah. Just a chapter to set the real plot up... This story has a really complex plot... yeah. Read my stuff (and review!) and my co-writer's, Stephanie, stuff under the penname '.-EHWIES-.' Please review! Thankies to everyone that has reviewed/read. Love ya:) -StarletOfTheForest and '.-EHWIES-.'


	4. Chapter 4: Treachery Within the Team

The air in Titans Tower was so frigid Starfire could see her breath, clouds of puffy white in the air. A fire, built tediously by Cyborg (and with a lot of cursing) was warming her up, but the alien would have liked to cuddle up with Robin...

Too bad the latter was furious at her and she was the same. She knew it would never work out... a superhero and a superhero? The first (and last) time they dated, she had gotten kidnapped... Starfire sighed and gazed around.

She saw Cyborg and Stephanie, happily sharing a large mug of cocoa with miniscule marshmallows floating about in the warm liquid. Raven had her back to Beast Boy, who was trying in vain to get her to smile with his kitten form. And Robin... she let her lime eyes linger a moment too long and was greeted with a harsh glare. Defeated, Starfire stuck her tongue out and walked away to her pink room of dreams.

Little did Starfire know, romance was the least of the Titans' troubles, as Stephanie was fully aware. Her jittery attitude that was already beginning to worry Cyborg was just a faint inkling of the pre-nighttime nerves she felt. "Cyborg... I have ten minutes," she muttered, quietly enough so that only he would hear her.

Knowing instantly what Stephanie meant, Cyborg nodded. "Be safe," were his last words before she dashed away. "Both you and the others..."

Hoping that she'd be able to heed his words, Stephanie pulled Raven aside. "I need to talk to you," she said urgently, and before the demoness could protest, she had taken her by the hand and dragged her to the bathroom, her other hand fumbling for something in her pocket.

"Stephanie," began Raven in bemusement, "what--?"

The blonde stuck a syringe into Raven's arm. "That's going to rid you of your problem with your powers," she stated. Raven's eyes grew in size.

"How do you know about my problems?"

Stephanie's blue eyes turned downcast at the inquiry. "S-slade..." she mumbled, hoping her words would be incoherent to spare her time.

"What do you mean, Slade? You don't mean..." Raven forced herself not to gasp, gladly maintaining her monotone. "You aren't his apprentice, are you? He badly wants one, anyway..."

Raven was shocked to see tears brimming in Stephanie's eyes. "By force..." she choked out. "If I don't, he-- he said he'd kill Cyborg."

Raven didn't completely trust Stephanie, having only known her for a few short weeks, but allowed her to go on. "He's trying to recruit demons, Raven. Since I was engaged to Cy at the time, he was hitting two birds with one stone in making me his apprentice." Her eyes widened again. Demon? That could only mean...

Stephanie nodded in response to the unspoken question. "Vampire. I'm due to transform in seven and a half minutes. But you need to hear this because... he's after you, Raven. He told me to control your powers for usefulness to him in the future with what I gave you, and I have orders to inject you with this," she withdrew a second syringe, which glistened menacingly in the light, "to fool you into working for him." She wrenched the object of her current loathing into two and dropped the remains into the ocean below. "You have to help me... I don't want to have any association with Slade. Please..."

"I can't..." Raven looked away. "It's too risky... I'm a Titan. He finds me, we're all dead..."

Stephanie sighed. "He'll be after me when I don't return with you. I'm supposed to go back to him in three days. I can't do it alone..."

Raven paused, letting the words sink in. She and Stephanie weren't yet friends, but she did sense certain innocence about her... but before she could even think about replying, Stephanie's already pale skin started whitening, her eyes reddening. It was time to transform... "Go now!" she commanded Raven, but she was paralyzed by shock and fear. A sudden pain on her neck, and all was black.

A few moments later, Beast Boy's voice rang out. "Dude! Where's Steph? I want to beat her at Mega Monkeys... I CANNOT believe a girl beat me at video games..."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Cy! Where's your wife?"

Cyborg caught the hyperactive young adult by grabbing the back of his uniform. "She's sorting out... issues."

Beast Boy chuckled. "You guys just got married and she's already pregnant!"

Cyborg's humanoid eye widened to the size of a dinner plate. "_Pregnant_?" he exclaimed indignantly. "Do you have any idea how dead I would be if I even suggested something like that to Steph!"

"Uh... so she isn't?" said Beast Boy awkwardly. "What kinds of issues, then?"

"That's her business, not yours!" exclaimed Cyborg in a minimal state of hysteria. "If you really want to hear a rant about _feminine issues_, be my guest, but I'm not going to be the one giving it!"

"Oh... heh... sorry," mumbled Beast Boy. "I... didn't know."

Cyborg sighed with relief. 'Lucky he believed me,' he thought anxiously. 'I'm not a very good liar under most circumstances.'

Beast Boy dropped the matter quickly, mortified at the thought of more information on the subject. "So, um... want to play video games, Cy? Ready to get beaten sorely?"

"I, uh... I'm turning in for the night," said Cyborg hesitantly, shaking his head as he backed away. "See you tomorrow!" He hurried out of sight, leaving a _very_ puzzled Beast Boy.

'Dude! Something's not right here. Cyborg's refusing GameStation and I have a feeling he was lying about Stephanie, too!' thought the changeling uneasily. 'Who is he to tell us we're being strange when he's being secretive!'

But before he could think another syllable, footsteps interrupted him from behind. Whirling around, ready to ask for a match of video games, he just stuttered awkwardly at the sight of Stephanie carrying an unconscious Raven, obviously in a hurry. "What...?"

Stephanie shook her head. "We need to get her to the medical bay. Quickly!"

Beast Boy looked at Stephanie. "The infirmary? That's the second floor above the lobby… You want me to take Rae? She looks kinda heavy…" Stephanie shook her head curtly, a horror-stricken look in her sapphire eyes. He shrugged and morphed into a cheetah, rushing down. Stephanie set the half-demon on a bed, her pale skin basically pure white.

"What happened, Steph?" he asked. "I-I-I don't know," she stammered, trying in vain to put up a good lie. Thankfully, he believed her. "She just, well, collapsed…" A breath of relief was let out as she realized the bite marks were covered by orchid hair.

"Cyborg would probably know," Stephanie concluded. "I'll ask him, you can go." She shooed the changeling away and Cyborg walked in.

"Steph, what happened?" She turned to him, an apology written all over her radiant face. Cyborg gasped slightly. "You didn't, Steph?"

"I'm sorry… It was so close to transformation and I had to tell her something… I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't!" He walked out the door, leaving her alone. "Forgive me," she said, plunging the second syringe into Raven's arm.


End file.
